Re: Hey, Books

I've been reading Nomads of the Longbow: The Siriono of Eastern Bolivia. Quite fascinating really. Much easier than most anthropological texts in the sense that it makes things exciting. From detailing the fashioning of tools to the seasonal fare to describing the technique used when hunting Howler monkeys.

I've been reading it for a while now... I've been slacking off and watching movies instead of reading at work... My eyes are starting to hurt though, so it's back to books tomorrow.

Re: Hey, Books

I'm reading Beloved by Toni Morrison which is about a black family circa 1873 getting on after slavery. I bought it because Diane Rehm on NPR had a show about this book several months back (last fall?), and it sounded interesting. I think I saw the movie (with Oprah) when it came out years ago. Anyone reading anything good?

Re: Hey, Books

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by PsyGuyRy

I haven't had a chance to read through all the posts, but has anyone read "Infinite Jest?" I'm reading it... slowly (at this rate it'll take me another two months)... But I like it so far. I like the style and the character development... Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

yes.

Originally Posted by PotVsKtl

I fucking hate Thomas Pynchon. If I ever see him I'm going to solder his genitals to a bobcat. Then shoot the bobcat up with PCP.

Re: Hey, Books

I'm starting Underworld by Dan Delillo soon. I read What is the What, and it was entertaining, and i just finished Cat's Cradle, which was great. I also wanna read One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Dubliners, Portrait of an Artist..., Crying of Lot 49 and many others over summer.

Re: Hey, Books

riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs...

Jimmy FTW.

I liked Beloved but didn't love it. The supernatural aspects turned me off. I guess it was the way they were treated/approached. I did love Song of Solomon though.

Bryan as nice as The Crying of Lot 49 if you're not familiar with Pynchon (shut up haters) I might push you towards one of his fuller novels. Lot 49 is wonderful but V and Gravity's Rainbow and the others are actually well plotted and such. They're miles ahead. If you want something shorter I'd say that you should consider the short stories collection Slow Learner, in particular "Entropy." If you're a Pynchon vet then forget all this... or, if you wish, comment upon my advice.

Re: Hey, Books

I am currently reading Thirst For Love by Mishima. It's clearly an early novel and at this point it seems like he could've used an editor with more teeth but the story is picking up and approaching the glories of his other books. Though I've only read two others. Thus far.

Re: Hey, Books

Joyce>Wallace>Pynchon. I don't know why more people don't see that. It's a simple formula really.

I'll grant that Jimmy is better than Tommy but they're different enough that it's a tough comparison. The latter is clearly influenced heavily by the former but he add much of his own.

Also I have no idea what Wallace you'd care to throw in with those giants. I can't come up with any that've been around long enough to even consider. Also I can't find any Wallaces that I've read which is what I mean, sort of.

Re: Hey, Books

Consider the fact that I am currently reading both Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon. Simultaneously. One of them starts pissing me off due to some 40 page tangent about mechanical ducks and so I switch to the other. Back and forth like that until I start soldering genitals. Don't give me any bullshit.

Re: Hey, Books

I liked Beloved but didn't love it. The supernatural aspects turned me off. I guess it was the way they were treated/approached. I did love Song of Solomon though.

Bryan as nice as The Crying of Lot 49 if you're not familiar with Pynchon (shut up haters) I might push you towards one of his fuller novels. Lot 49 is wonderful but V and Gravity's Rainbow and the others are actually well plotted and such. They're miles ahead. If you want something shorter I'd say that you should consider the short stories collection Slow Learner, in particular "Entropy." If you're a Pynchon vet then forget all this... or, if you wish, comment upon my advice.

I read Song of Solomon for a college class years ago, and I remember really enjoying it. I think I tried to get unbeliever to read it, but he's stuck in sci-fi/Neal Stephenson shizz. I can't remember too many details except the kids were named by randomly pointing somewhere in the Bible (First Corinthians, Pilate, etc), and the main character Milkman was breastfed until he was 13 (see girls only thread). The book was Milkman's journey of self-discovery or whatever.

I haven't read ANY Pynchon. I remember my high school English teacher telling us in hushed tones how hard he was to read.
I guess I never got around to him because of that.

Re: Hey, Books

Consider the fact that I am currently reading both Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon. Simultaneously. One of them starts pissing me off due to some 40 page tangent about mechanical ducks and so I switch to the other. Back and forth like that until I start soldering genitals. Don't give me any bullshit.

I actually agree with this ('cept the soldering bit). Pynchon's style gets really cloying in his long novels. Lot 49 may not have much of a plot but it's small enough to get through without feeling like you need to crack your head against a wall and it has plenty of little gems of passages. Entropy is definitely my favorite of his writings.

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by atom heart

I actually agree with this ('cept the soldering bit). Pynchon's style gets really cloying in his long novels. Lot 49 may not have much of a plot but it's small enough to get through without feeling like you need to crack your head against a wall and it has plenty of little gems of passages. Entropy is definitely my favorite of his writings.

I'm not sure I'd say it was that 49 doesn't have a plot as much as Pynchon just says what happens rather than allowing the events to happen, instead of describing events.

I'm not sure I could handle GR and M&D at the same time. Much respect, Pot. I think when I was reading GR I would break it up with plays by Stoppard and Ionesco and such.

Re: Hey, Books

I'll grant that Jimmy is better than Tommy but they're different enough that it's a tough comparison. The latter is clearly influenced heavily by the former but he add much of his own.

Also I have no idea what Wallace you'd care to throw in with those giants. I can't come up with any that've been around long enough to even consider. Also I can't find any Wallaces that I've read which is what I mean, sort of.

David Foster. I know he's still a youngster, but his next book will make him a giant. Mark my words. Joyce wrote sometimes dirty books that possessed a direct and mystical connection to the infinite while Pynchon mostly writes little pornographic fantasies. Tom's clearly not quite as good as his influences would suggest, IMO. I enjoy "V" and "Rainbow", but I also think we throw around the word "genius" far too often these days. Think I'd rather read J.G. Ballard or Burroughs most of the time, though I haven't approached either since I was a youngster.

Anyway, I think Wallace falls somewhere in between the two. Easily the most promising American writer out there right now. Read "Jest" if you haven't and then the short stories. Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by PotVsKtl

Consider the fact that I am currently reading both Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon. Simultaneously. One of them starts pissing me off due to some 40 page tangent about mechanical ducks and so I switch to the other. Back and forth like that until I start soldering genitals. Don't give me any bullshit.

fact considered. that seems like a silly strategy though. if tiring from one why not go to another author altogether?

i don't agree w/ the joyce > wallace > pynchon. i sort of feel as if joyce should be excused from that comparison altogether, not because he's wonderful or anything, i hold no particular reverance for joyce, but just because it's inaccurate. wallace > pynchon > gaddis seems a more apt evolution.

if wallace's next novel is anywhere near the quality of infinite jest (and it will be a while before his next novel, as suggested by his reading of "something that is part of something larger and not even close to halfway finished yet"), he will have cemented himself among literary giants.

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by protodisco

wallace > pynchon > gaddis seems a more apt evolution.

if wallace's next novel is anywhere near the quality of infinite jest (and it will be a while before his next novel, as suggested by his reading of "something that is part of something larger and not even close to halfway finished yet"), he will have cemented himself among literary giants.

Thank you. Gaddis. That's exactly what I meant. Joyce is of a different caste entirely.

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by PotVsKtl

Mathematical symbols > evolutionary chart arrows.

the implication isn't that the arrows represent evolution (if they did they'd be pointing the other way.), it's that the three authors presented have evolved from each other. pynchon has evolved from gaddis so he's greater (>) than gaddis. wallace has evolved from pynchon so he's greater than pynchon.

Re: Hey, Books

Originally Posted by bmack86

I'm starting Underworld by Dan Delillo soon. I read What is the What, and it was entertaining ...

Have you read DeLillo's White Noise? It's one of my favorites, and as much as I loved Underworld, I don't think it's as good. What is the What is on my shelf, too. Maybe this summer. I'm currently wrapping up a collection of short stories published by McSweeney's (Eggers' literary mag). Fun, previously unpublished genre stuff from people like Rick Moody, Elmore Leonard, Michael Chabon, Nick Hornby, and Sherman Alexie.

Originally Posted by mob roulette

My favorite true story since The Devil In The White City. Will be interested to hear your opinions on it.

Originally Posted by Hannahrain

I keep meaning to pick up "The Devil in the White City", too.

Devil in the White City is great. Well worth reading, Hannah. Have either of you read Under the Banner of Heaven? It's written by Jon Krakauer and details Mormon fundamentalism in the context of a 1984 double murder. Creepy and riveting.